DAVIDsTEA

Pure Chai simmered in almond milk for as long as it took me to do the dishes and shower, and then some used in my pancakes? Delicious! Coconut- and oat-flour pancakes have become my comfort food, and they are absolutely perfect to experiment with dumping different teas into. Neverending fun!

Almond milk, Pure Chai, stovetop. I know this is a black tea but I find its cinnamony comfort factor too tempting at bed time. It’s a strange tea, I think: a “traditional chai” without ginger or cardamom. Kind of powdery. Not particularly strong. But it’s a pleasant tea that makes me think of baked goods and I like it.

I had this on my way to class tonight as a latte I ordered to go when I was picking up some tea in-store.

For some reason, it tasted really sweet! I’m wondering if they automatically sweeten their lattes, but I don’t know. Anyway, it was still tasty and spicy. I didn’t realize till tonight that there is no ginger in this, which is probably why I like it so much.

I simmered a sample of this (two teaspoons) in two cups of almond milk (unsweetened vanilla) on the stove.

It was tasty and very soothing! I think I will purchase a small amount at some point as it was a very relaxing drink. The tea is indeed very fine and a tiny amount escaped my fairly fine strainer, but it didn’t really bother me. I used almond milk for its low carb content so I can’t speak for it in actual milk, and I haven’t brewed it in water. But I was quite happy with this as my past chai experiences have been touch-and-go.

1 TB for 450mL water, bare.

Got a sample in a recent order …

even better than I remembered. Nice cinnamon heat (but not cinnamon candy taste), some lovely sharpness, and mellow Assam. Doesn’t forgive a long steep, so time this one carefully. I like it at max 4 minutes for plain sipping. It might benefit form 5 minutes if you add milk. Upping my rating.

1 TB for 500mL water, 1 packet stevia, no milk

Well now, this is more like it.

I’ve pouted before about the relative not-spiciness of anything labelled ‘chai’ from David’s Tea. I’d found two exceptions — Chai Guarana and Cinnamon Rooibos Chai. I’d forgotten about Saigon Chai, which I’d ordered and quickly finished several months ago. I just brewed up a sample received in my last order.

The dry leaves look intriguing, especially with the peppercorns and caradamom. The aroma carries a very deep cinnamon, not at all the festive and playful cinnamon of Christmas cookies or chewing gum. Assam is the base, which is as it should be, harumph. ;) The Assam does not dominate, but neither does it get lost like China black teas can under chai spices.

I find a bit of sweetening brings out the spices and their heat a bit more. Still not a hot chai — lags behind David’s Cinnamon Rooibos Chai for heat — but at least it’s not cold and damp chai.

Ginger. Caradmon is good, but I am finding that I always want tons of ginger in chai. No ginger in this one. But the cinnamon is wonderful. Extra points for the bliss-me-out Vietnamese cinnamon.

Nice, rich chocolatey-minty flavour. I’m actually pleasantly surprised by how dessert-y it is. I prefer it with milk – it compliments the smoothness of the chocolate.

When it’s in the bag/tin, the smell of Forever Nuts is divine- it’s like those delicious mini donuts sold at fairs! Once steeped however, the smell dissipates and you can tell just from the scent that the tea is fairly weak. The flavor is still there a bit though, so it’s accented nicely with sweetener and a bit of hot milk.

Plus the fact that it brews to a hot pink color is fantastic as well!

I usually hate Earl Grey teas, but this one turned me around a bit by having a decent amount of other flavor going on. I don’t love it when it’s steeped alone, but with a fair amount of hot milk, it tones down how perfume-y the tea can be.

I’ve had this tea a few times. I do like it in a latte, or tossed in a bag into a cup of hot chocolate because this minty black tea seems to want to be blended up with some chocolate. On it’s own, it’s a very nice flavoured black tea. The mint, as expected, is a bit overpowering as is the Chinese Black, but the other spices seem to balance out the the two tastes and blend them together nicely.

Still. I feel like this tea is missing something.

And that something is chocolate.

Or, perhaps I just associate the indulgence of chocolate with Christmas and thus want to add it to everything.

Similar to other DavidsTea blends like Opposites Attract and Read My Lips.

Hm. I made this as a latte to reward myself for getting out of bed and it came out really oddly! I don’t think this one works as a latte as much as I always think it will.

I woke up cranky, still tired, with low blood sugar, and somehow ran out of time to eat anything before going to work. This is becoming a comfort tea for me when I am cranky and bratty. It feels decadent so it works for me in those moods.

Sometimes it tastes pretty floral and others it’s more chocolate-strawberry. I’m still weirded out by it as the thought of a rose tea kind of repels me. But, clearly I like it! I even just sniffed my empty Libre because it still smells so good.

I tried this in an almond milk latte this evening. Either it doesn’t work as well as others/needs actual milk or this almond milk is kind of off. I can’t decide!

But, it still smelled intoxicating and tasted nice underneath it all. I find this tea thrilling.

I love this one.

All the flavours work together really nicely, for me. It does seem like a romantic tea, if there’s such a thing, but it’s also great when I want to feel pampered. I drank this tonight in the bath. I taste the chocolate and the strawberries and a hint of the rose and I I like it! I’m always worried by the smell because it’s kind of strong and maybe even sour, but once infused this is lovely.

I can’t stop drinking this. It’s the perfect combination of fresh and spicy. Must get more!

I bought myself just a small bag of this last night as I’ve had it but not bought it before.

I should have got more! Tisanes don’t usually excite me, but this one is so great. It’s lemony, fruity, and a little spicy. It’s so fresh yet warming. Lovely! It’s just so different from anything else I own.

I had this to go from Davids this evening while walking around, running Christmas errands.

The only other time I’d had it was from the 25 Days of Tea calendar. The smell hadn’t really appealed to me and I wasn’t too sure with the first few sips, but by the bottom of my travel mug I was intrigued so I wanted to try it again. I really like it. It was cold out tonight and this kept me warmed up but was also very refreshing. It would probably be great iced.

Sometimes, the only thing that can save a bad day is a cup of this tea. And on a good day, this makes everything just right.

Did anyone else notice that there’s two entries for this here on Steepster?

Anyway, I almost don’t want to taste this because I’m enjoying the scent too much. Yes, I’m practically huffing it! It smells like you’re baking a pumpkin pie in the oven whilst steeping chai on the stove all at once.

And that’s what it tastes like, too. The pumpkin is perfect, and the spices are perfectly balanced and warming. It’s absolutely delicious!! In my chai-adventures, there’s only one other I think I’d prefer over this one: LiberTEAS’ Masterpiece Chai.

I know this is a seasonal tea from David’s…someone please, just tell me that it’s a recurring seasonal tea.

I highly recommend this tea. I tried it alone, with no milk or sugar and it was simply exquisite. The buttery after taste warms you to the core. A perfect tea for a cold wintry day.
Now I know why the store is always sold out.

1 TB for 450mL water, bare.

Pulling a late (for me) night as I work on revisions … the delicious sharpness of this blend helps keep me focused depsite the yawns and won’t ruin my eventual sleep. The more I drink this one, the more I like it.